Breathe
by BregoArodShadowfax
Summary: When the phone rings at one in the morning, the last thing he's thinking about is that it's an emergency.   Finn/Kurt of sorts .


**Title:** Breathe

**Author: **AoiTsukikage

**Rating: **PG-13

**Characters/Pairing: **Finn/Kurt in a way

**Chapter: **1/1

**Word Count: A little over 1500 (this was supposed to be a drabble!)**

**Spoilers: **Up to 2x10, so everything.

**Notes: **Partly inspired by a prompt on the glee angst meme, but went in a totally different direction so I don't consider it a fill. That being said, there is definitely angst ahead…

**Summary:** When the phone rings at one in the morning, the last thing he's thinking about is that it's an emergency.

**Disclaimer: **I, unfortunately, do not own these characters, no matter how sad that makes me. I do, however, promise to return them when I'm done with them. :)

When the phone rings at one in the morning, the last thing he's thinking about is that it's an emergency. After all, Burt and his mother are out at some Christmas Eve party, and Kurt's not coming home until the next day- something about some last-minute project, Finn thinks- so there's really nobody who could be calling him outside of telemarketers and Rachel.

"Rach, I told you, I…"

"…F-Finn?"

"Kurt?" Finn grips the phone tighter, a sudden chill going through his body. Why would Kurt be calling him, sounding like he did, unless…

"I-is Dad there?"

"Nah, they're out at a party, dude," Finn's playing it cool because he can't afford to freak out, but he's really worried now. "What's up?"

"Oh, _God," _Kurt sobs, and Finn's already heading up the stairs and grabbing his keys. "I was coming home early and…this guy, he must have been drunk…" Kurt coughs, a horrible, wet sound, and Finn's pretty sure he knows why Kurt's calling him, now.

"Where are you?"

"Just…outside of town," Kurt sounds weaker already, and Finn's going to start crying right away so he forces himself to stay calm as he puts on his jacket and leaves the house.

"Did you call an ambulance?"

"I don't…think they'll help…"

"I'll call 'em anyway," Finn's _really _trying not to panic now, but Kurt's always been overdramatic ~ almost as much as Rachel~ so hopefully it's not as bad as he's making it sound. "I'll try and get a hold of your dad, but I'm coming, okay?"

"…Hurry."

Finn does.

000

He sees the car first and thinks that he wishes Burt would have let Kurt keep the Navigator, simply because he would come out okay of any accident by way of having a bigger vehicle. But Kurt's just driving a little car, and the sight of it in the ditch, nearly ripped in half, makes Finn's chest tighten. He'd left a message on Burt's phone, hoping he'd explained the situation properly without freaking out, but he hasn't heard anything back yet.

He's beaten the ambulance, which he figures is a good thing, and grabs a flashlight from the glove box before striding to the ruined car, the sight of fresh blood on the snow making bile rise in his throat.

"Kurt?" he calls softly, not really thinking about why he's whispering, but a dark shape huddled by the car shifts and then he's _running, _dropping to his knees and reaching out to touch as Kurt hisses in pain.

"Y-you came…"

"Dude, how could I not," Finn blinks back tears because they'd only freeze to his face, and with Rachel and everything and now _this _he's surprised he hasn't broken down yet. "The ambulance is on its way, Kurt…"

"It hurts," Kurt says it like it's just that simple, but Finn knows he's in a lot of pain because Kurt never denies he's in pain unless it's really, _really _bad. "Finn, I…"

"Don't talk," Finn shushes him, gently lifting him and wincing when he can hear glass crackling under the smaller boy's body. He shifts him into his arms, brushing his snow-wet hair away from his face – and he looks perfect, somehow, but Finn can feel something wet through Kurt's coat and he knows he's losing a lot of blood. He wants to throw up again, but he _can't, _not yet…

"You…you know what I regret?" Kurt's barely speaking loud enough for Finn to hear him, but Finn plays along anyway. He just has to keep him awake until the ambulance comes and he'll be fine.

Just keep him awake and he'll be _fine_.

"What, dude?"

Kurt scrunches up his nose, his eyes narrowing slightly in the way they always do when Finn still persists in calling him 'dude.' "I…I wish that, if I'm…dying…I'd just…just once…like to be…kissed by a…by a boy I like," he confesses, more tears leaking from his eyes, and he coughs again, his body spasming as he whimpers in pain. "I just want…"

"Shh," Finn thinks he can hear sirens and prays that he's right (and if there was ever a time for somebody to answer his prayers, he thinks, it's now. He's sorry for praying about boobs and football because this is probably more important than anything in his life). Anyway, Kurt's probably thinking about what's-his-name from Dalton. Blaine.

It doesn't really matter, though, because Kurt's blue-green eyes are so haunted and full of pain in the dim light that Finn just wants to take it all away, and he realizes that this is not just a whim on Kurt's part but an actual _last request, _and it doesn't matter that they're both boys or that they're kind-of brothers or _anything, _because Kurt _needs him. _"Finn…"

"Kurt, you like me, right?" he asks in a rush, and Kurt looks at him in confusion, his eyes a little unfocussed, and crap, can't let him fall asleep…

"I…I did…"

"Could I…could I kiss you?"

Kurt takes a deep breath and Finn swears he can feel more blood staining his hands, but he gives a little nod after that and Finn lets his own breath out in a rush, bending and pressing his lips gently to Kurt's. Kurt's mouth is cold and tastes a little like iron (has he been coughing up blood, too?), but he kisses back as best he can and practically sobs into Finn's mouth; such a pitiful and heart-wrenching noise that Finn wants to take this broken boy and put him back together through sheer force of will.

He can definitely hear sirens now, red lights flashing across the snow, and he pulls back enough to look into Kurt's eyes, tears in his own mirroring the ones in his brother's, and Kurt somehow manages to find the strength to raise a hand and tighten his slender fingers in Finn's jacket. "Don't cry."

"_Kurt," _he hiccups, and why is he crying, anyway? He's not the one bleeding onto the snow, but it hurts like he is. "Kurt, _please. _The paramedics are here, they're gonna fix you up, just _please _hang on for me. Please."

"…Love you," Kurt sighs and his fingers loosen their grip on his coat, and Finn buries his nose in Kurt's hair, smelling him and sobbing and not letting go even as the paramedics rush up.

Kurt's not dead.

He's not.

He can't be.

Because Finn never got to say 'I love you' back.

000

Later they tell him that him keeping Kurt awake was probably the only thing that kept him from dying, but Kurt's still got broken ribs and a broken leg and his whole back is sliced up from where he flew through the window (which explains why he was lying in the snow to begin with, Finn thinks).

There isn't any evidence to catch the guy who did this, but Finn doesn't care as long as Kurt's gonna be okay. It was hard waiting at the hospital for Burt and his mom, hard to see Burt trying to stay strong even when he clearly just wanted to let everything out, but he hugged Finn and told him how proud he was of him and Finn knew in his heart that there wasn't anything in the world that could have kept him from being at Kurt's side that night.

"Why, hello, Finn Hudson," Kurt's voice is kind of scratchy, but he's smiling, and Finn closes the door behind him before crossing to the bed, Kurt reaching out a hand to him that Finn takes immediately.

"How…how are you?" Finn knows how lame that sounds but he doesn't know where to start. How do they talk about what they'd done?

"Crappy Christmas, hey?" Kurt's absently stroking Finn's hand with his fingers, and Finn swallows back tears and nods.

"But you're _here_, dude. That makes it awesome," he finally says, his voice breaking, and Kurt squeezes his hand tighter.

"I want to thank you for what you did. You…you saved my life," Kurt's looking close to tears again and Finn wonders how often they're going to make each other cry. He thinks that, based on experience, it's probably going to be pretty often. But right now they're happy tears so he's okay with that.

"You would have done the same for me," Finn knows it's true, and Kurt just nods his head stiffly. "And…and I couldn't let you…let you go before you knew that…I love you too, man. I really do."

"I know," Kurt looks a little embarrassed before he adds, "and thank you. For the kiss."

"Least I could do," Finn replies, earning a bit of a smile from Kurt before he yawns. "Get some rest. I'll stay here if you want me to."

"I do," Kurt says, his eyes already slipping closed, and Finn scoots his chair closer to the bed and keeps holding Kurt's hand tightly, not even going to think about what life would be like without the other boy by his side.

Because he doesn't have to think about it.

Because Kurt's here.

And, as long as Finn has anything to say about it, he's not going anywhere.

**Notes:**

**1. **I've been reading too much on the angst meme, but I'm having a stressful day and I really wanted to write something angsty so this is what came out. The prompt that kind of got me thinking about this was different in that Kurt actually does die and even though Finn thinks that Kurt still likes him, he doesn't. That was just a little _too _angsty for me, so apparently I made my own version of the prompt…

**2. **The fic title comes from the song of the same title by Moist. It's a wonderful song and actually fits rather well.

**3. **I'm working on the next bit of the Endgame series, definitely. This is just a little deviation because I haven't written anything super-angsty in a long time.

**4. **Reviews/comments are always loved. :)


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